Air conditioner condenser incorporating condensate disposal means thereon



Nov. 15, 1955 E. B. DERR 2,723,540

AIR CONDITIONER CONDENSER INCORPORATING CONDENSATE DISPOSAL MEANS THEREON Filed April 2, 1953 United States Patent Elmer B. Derr, Oak Park, Ill., assigner to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application April 2, 1953, Serial No. 346,478 Claims.v (Ci. 62`-14l)) This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus, but more-particularly it is concerned with the disposal or disposition of the condensate that collects in an air conditioning unit during the operation thereof.

One of the most common, and perhaps perplexing, problems encountered in the operation of air conditioning apparatus revolves around the provision of suitable means for disposing of the moisture that condenses out of the atmosphere being cooled. This problem is particularly annoying inthe window-mounted, portable-type air conditioning unit because it is a self contained unit and is not generally provided with drainage connections that might readily facilitate drainage of the condensate to a sewer or the like for disposition. Heretofore, of course, many attempts have been-made to satisfactorily solve this problem and, as a result, many devices and means have already been proposed for simplifying eventual disposition of such condensate. Up to the present, however, such means as have heretofore been proposed have not been entirely successful and consequently there has been no general acceptance by the public or the trade of the devices presently available4 for such purposes. It is a primary object of this invention, therefore, to provide simplified means for disposing of the moisture condensed outl of the atmosphere being cooled during thev operationv of an air conditioning unit.

Another object is to provide a simple yet etlicient means, incorporated withinl the condensing unit of an air conditioning apparatus, for disposing of condensate as it accumulates therein duringthe operation of said apparatus.

A further object is to providel a refrigerant condenser,4 adapted for use with an air conditioning unit, which has simplified means formed therewithin for effectively disposing of moisture condensed out of the atmosphere being cooled by said air conditioning apparatus.

A still further object is to provide a refrigerant condenser fashioned with arefrigerant-carrying hollow tube or conduit having a longitudinally extending channel-like groove or depression on the exterior surface thereof.

A yet still further object is to provide a finned-type tubular refrigerant condenser having an exterior groove in the tube. thereof that extends longitudinally substantially the entire length of said tubing, and which denes a passageV through which liquid may flow by gravity from one end of the tube to the other.

A principal object. of the invention is to provide a refrigerant condenser having means for containing a liquid ininti'mate heat exchange relation with the exterior thereof during the evaporation of said liquid by heat from saidcondenser.'

Another principal object is to provide a tubular-type refrigerant condenser wherein the upper surface ofthe tube isV depressed radially inwardly to provide a continuous longitudinal canal exteriorly thereof for conveying liquid from one end of the tube to the other, and which canal includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced and transversely extending dam-like wall members.

An important object is to provide improved means for bringing moisture, condensed out of atmosphere being cooled by airconditioning apparatus, into intimate` ther- Ina-lV contact with. the condenser of the air-conditioning` unit when circulation of air across the' condenser of said unit depends upon natural' draft.

ICC

A further principal object is to provide a' tubular-type finned refrigerant condenser having a plurality of contiguous reservoirs disposed longitudinally along the exterior of the condenser tube and connected together by a canal the walls of which are fashioned in the exterior surface of the condenser tube.

Another object is to provide improved air conditioning apparatus having means therein for retaining moisture, condensed out of the atmosphere being cooled, in intimate thermal contact with the condenser thereof until the evaporation of said moisture has been effected.

T he foregoing and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the disclosure is more fully made in the following detailed description of a pre.- ferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a sectional View through. a window-mounted air conditioning unit fashioned in accordance with the present invention.

2 is a front elevational View of a finned-type tubular condenser constructed according to the present invention, and having the moisture distributor pan positioned thereabove shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofthe proposed condenser.

Fig. 4 is a .side elevational view of said. condenser with the' moisture distributor pan shown in section thereabove.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional View taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 2 and shows the peripheral contour of the condenser tube.

Eig. 6 is a sectionalview taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4, and shows inV enlarged. dimensions a longitudinal section of a portion of the condenser tube of the present invention, together with its radiating fins.

Fig. 7 is a prespective View of aportion of the condenser tube of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing it will be noted that in a preferred embodiment a portable-type air conditioning unit has been depicted as mounted in a partially opened window with. a portion of the unit disposed within an enclosure to be cooled and another portion thereof positioned beyond the enclosure in the outside atmosphere. The air conditioning unit, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1l), includes a conventional inner cabinet 11 that is mounted by suitable conventional means (not shown) in a partially opened window 12, and an outer cabinet 13 mounted by suitable conventional means (not shown) on an exterior wall'14 of the enclosure being cooled. The inner cabinet 11 encloses a generally conventional refrigerant evaporator 15 positioned proximate a grilled opening 16 in the inner wall 17 of said cabinet, and an electric motor 18 that drives a fan 19 for drawing air through an opening 20 in the top of said cabinet and passing it over said. evaporator before discharging it, by way of the grilled opening 16, back into the enclosure being cooled.. The outer cabinet 13 may include a motorcompressor assembly 21', and a refrigerant condenser 22 positioned therewithin. Saidcondenser may be cooled by air passing in natural draft fashion through an opening 23 in the bottom ofthe cabinet 13, over the condenser 22, and' back into the atmosphere by way of an opening 24 in the outer wall of said cabinet. If desired, of. course, a motor-driven fan (not shown) may be provided for blowing air over the condenser in accordance with well understood practices. Refrigerant-carrying conduit 25 connects the motor-compressor 21 to the condenser22 and conduit 26 connects the opposite end of the condenser to the evaporator 15, while conduit 27 returns refrigerant from the evaporator to the motor-compressor all in a conventional manner.

Positionedv beneath the evaporator 15, in thev inner cabinet 11, is a moisture collector or drip pan 28 which extends the full length of the evaporator and' is dimensioned so that the vertical walls therof extend beyond the vertical surfaces of the evaporator. Connected to this pan is a conduit 29 which serves to drain moisture collected in pan 28 into a second pan-like shallow container 30 disposed above condenser 22 in the outer cabinet 13. The container 30, preferably, is fashioned with a floor or bottom that contains two longitudinally extending valleys or depressed portions 31 and 32, respectively, each of which is provided at the low point thereof with a plurality of spaced openings 33. Said container is positioned, preferably, so that one of said depressed portions is disposed directly above each vertical row of condenser tubes with the openings 33 therein substantially in vertical alignment with the center line of one row of the tubes.

Now in accordance with the more specific teachings of the present invention, the refrigerant-carrying conduit, of the condenser 32, may be fashioned as a hollow or tubular member 34 bent back upon itself to provide a serpentine coil, indicated generally by the numeral 34a, which is generally rectangular in shape and with successive turns thereof vertically spaced and extending through a plurality of vertically positioned and horizontally spaced radiating fins 35 to which they may be affixed in any suitable conventional fashion. The tubular conduit member 34, which initially may be generally circular in cross section, is provided with a longitudinally extending outwardly opening canal-like recess 36 in the exterior surface thereof which may be rolled, molded, pressed, debossed or otherwise suitably formed therein. As thus fashioned, there is provided a continuous canal-like passage or trough which, preferably extends from one end of said condenser tube to the other. The oor or bottom 37 of said recess may, additionally, be provided with a succession of longitudinally spaced bumped-up or raised portions which form transversely extending ridges or hump members 38. The height of each bumped-up portion is, preferably, somewhat less than the height of the adioining, side walls of the trough for reasons which will presently be apparent. Such ridges may function as small dikes to form a series of connected pools or reservoirs along said trough whereby any liquid passing through the trough will be delayed until such successive reservoir is filled to overflowing capacity before passing onward. Since the condenser will be vertically positioned, it will be appreciated that when the conduit or tube 34 is fashioned to form a rectangularly shaped coil the depressed or outwardly opening recessed portion or trough 36 must face upwardly at all points throughout the full length of said conduit in order to properly confine liquid as it ows along the trough from one end of the tubular conduit to the other. Since the successive turns of the condenser coil are vertically spaced, the trough provides a sloping passageway of gradually decreasing elevation, and, since the path through the trough is continuous, it will be obvious that liquid introduced into the upper turns of the trough will tend to ow by gravity to the lower or bottom turns thereof. The ow of such liquid will, of course, be somewhat impeded by the series of transverse dam-like members 38 but, because the height of the bumped-up ridges 38 is less than that of the side Walls of the trough and the volumetric capacity of each pool or reservoir is limited, the restriction is not so great as to cause overfiowing of the edges of the trough but instead the liquid will ow to the next successive reservoir before overflowing the side walls of any preceding reservoir.

In operation moisture condensed out of the air passing over the evaporator is collected and accumulated in the drip pan 28 positioned therebeneath and thence conducted by way of conduit 29 to the shallow container or distributor 30. Since the bottom of container 30 is perforated, and the openings therein are in alignment with the trough 36 in the upper surface of the topmost turn of the condenser coil, any moisture collecting in said container will eventually be discharged into said trough where it will immediately be brought into intimate thermal contact with the heat of the condenser. Because of the gradual slope of said trough the condensate will flow by gravity toward the opposite or lower end of the conduit in the condenser coil but its ow will be retarded by the succession of reservoirs, and hence the fiuid will be confined in intimate thermal contact for a greater length of time and evaporation will continue so that sufficient quantities of said liquid will be evaporated before the lower turns are reached. In this manner the condensate is effectively disposed of without any overfiowing thereof into the cabinet.

It should now be apparent that a novel air conditioner condensate disposal means has been shown and described, and it is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a portable air conditioner having an evaporator located within an enclosure, means disposed beneath said evaporator for collecting moisture condensed from air passing over the evaporator, a condensing unit operatively connected to said evaporator and having the condenser thereof disposed exteriorly of said enclosure, said condenser including a serpentine-shaped refrigerantcarrying coil having a longitudinally extending outwardly opening recess on the exterior surface of the coil, and means for conveying moisture from beneath said evaporator to the exterior recess in the condenser coil whereby the moisture collected may repose in the recess while being evaporated by the heat of the condenser.

2. In a portable air conditioner having an evaporator located within an enclosure, means disposed beneath said evaporator for collecting moisture condensed from air passing over the evaporator, a condensing unit operatively connected to said evaporator and having the condenser thereof disposed exteriorly of said enclosure, said condenser being fashioned with a refrigerant-carrying conduit having a continuous longitudinally-extending trough formed in the exterior surface of the conduit and further having the conduit disposed with one end elevated above the opposite end thereof, and means for conveying moisture from beneath said evaporator to the upper portion of said trough whereby the moisture collected is evaporated by the heat of the condenser as the moisture flows by gravity from an upper end of the trough longitudinally along the conduit to the lower end thereof.

3. In a portable air conditioner having an evaporator located within an enclosure, means disposed beneath said evaporator for collecting moisture condensed from air passing over the evaporator, a condensing unit operatively connected to said evaporator and having the condenser thereof disposed extcriorly of said enclosure, said condenser including a refrigerant-carrying conduit fashioned as a coil having a plurality of vertically spaced turns therein and having a plurality of closely spaced fins through which the turns thereof extend, said condenser conduit being further fashioned with an outwardly opening trough in the exterior surface of the conduit that extends longitudinally substantially from one end of the conduit to the other so that liquid introduced at the upper end of the trough may flow by gravity longitudinally along the conduit to the lower end thereof, and means for conveying the moisture collected from beneath the evaporator to the upper portion of said trough whereby said moisture is brought into heat exchange relationship with the condenser and retained in such relationship as it flows along the trough and evaporation thereof is effected.

4. In a portable air conditioner having an. evaporator located within an enclosure, means disposed beneath said evaporator for 'collecting moisture condensed from air passing over the evaporator, a condensing unit operatively connected to said evaporator and having the condenser thereof disposed exteriorly of said enclosure, said condenser including a refrigerant-carrying conduit fashioned as a coil having a plurality of vertically spaced turns therein and having a plurality of closely spaced fins through which the turns thereof extend, said condenser conduit being further fashioned with an outwardly opening trough in the exterior surface thereof that extends longitudinally substantially from one end of the coil to the other so that liquid introduced at the upper end of the trough may flow by gravity to the lower end thereof, means for conveying moisture from beneath the evaporator to the condenser, said means including a shallow container having a perforate bottom with the perforations therein disposed in vertical alignment with the center line of the trough in the condenser conduit and said container being positioned above the topmost turn of the condenser coil whereby the moisture from beneath the evaporator is discharged into a heat exchange relationship with the condenser conduit and is retained in such relationship as it flows by gravity along the trough and until evaporation thereof is effected.

5. ln a portable air conditioner having an evaporator located within an enclosure, means disposed beneath said evaporator for collecting moisture condensed from ai;` passing over the evaporator, a condensing unit operatively connected to said evaporator and having a condenser cooled by natural draft circulation of air passing over the surface thereof and disposed exteriorly of said enclosure, means for conveying condensed moisture from beneath the evaporator into contact with the condenser, said condenser including a refrigerant-carrying conduit fashioned as a coil having a plurality of vertically spaced and successively arranged turns therein and having a plurality of closely spaced vertically positioned radiating fins through which the turns of the coil extend, said conduit being provided in the exterior surface thereof with an outwardly opening trough which extends longitudinally substantially y from one end of the conduit to the other, said conduit having further fashioned in the exterior surface thereof a plurality of integrally formed longitudinally spaced and transversely extending raised portions, and having said raised portions cooperating with said trough to provide a series of contiguous reservoirs extending longitudinally along the length of the conduit wherein moisture condensed from air after being introduced into the reservoirs in an upper portion of the condenser conduit ows by gravity from one reservoir to another so that the evaporation thereof may be effected by the heat of the condenser.

6. In a portable air conditioner having an evaporator located within an enclosure, means disposed beneath said evaporator for collecting moisture condensed from air passing over the evaporator, a condensing unit operatively connected to said evaporatorand having a condenser cooled by natural draft circulation of air passing over the surface thereoic disposed exteriorly of said enclosure, means for conveying condensed moisture from beneath the evaporator into Contact with the condenser, said condenser including a refrigerant-carrying conduit fashioned as a rectangularly-shaped coil having a plurality of vertically spaced and successively plurality of closely spaced vertically positioned radiating tins through which the turns of the coil extend, means formed in the exterior surfacev of the condenser conduit providing a liquid-carrying passage externally disposed and extending longitudinally substantially from one end of the conduit to the other whereby moisture condensed from air passing over the evaporator is brought into heat exchange relation with the condenser and retained in such relationship as it flows by gravity from one end of the conduit to the other and until evaporation of the moisture is effected.

7. In a portable air conditioner having an evaporator located within an enclosure, means disposed beneath said evaporator for collecting moisture condensed from air arranged turns and having a v passing over the evaporator, a condensing unit operatively connected to said evaporator and having the condenser thereof disposed exteriorly of said enclosure, means for conveying the condensed moisture from beneath the evaporator into contact with the condenser, said condenser including a refrigerant-carrying conduit fashioned as a coil having a plurality of vertically spaced and succes sively arranged turns therein and having a plurality of closely spaced vertically positioned radiating fins through which the turns of the coil extend, said conduit being further fashioned with a plurality of contiguous reservoirs disposed longitudinally along the exterior surface of said conduit and connected together by a canal the walls of which are formed from the exterior surface of said conduit, whereby moisture condensed out of atmosphere being cooled is retained in intimate heat exchange relationship with the condenser conduit as the moisture flows along the canal therein and until evaporation of the moisture is effected.

8. In air conditioning apparatus, a refrigerant condenser, comprising: a refrigerant-carrying conduit fashioned as a coil with a plurality of vertically spaced and successively arranged turns therein; a plurality of vertically positioned and horizontally spaced radiating iins through which the turns of said conduit extend; said conduit being provided with a longitudinally extending and outwardly opening recess in the upper exterior surface of the conduit, and which extends substantially the entire length of the conduit, whereby liquid introduced into the recess at an upper end may flow by gravity to a lower end thereof; and means for introducing liquid into an upper end portion of said recess.

9. In air conditioning apparatus, a refrigerant condenser, comprising: a refrigerantcarrying conduit fashioned as a coil with a plurality of vertically spaced and successively arranged turns therein; a plurality of vertically positioned and horizontally spaced radiating fins through which the turns of said conduit extend; said conduit being provided with a longitudinally extending and outwardly opening trough in the upper exterior surface of the conduit; said trough having a plurality of longitudinally spaced and transversely extending ridges which are integrally fashioned with and project upwardly from the lowest portion of said trough, whereby a series of successively arranged reservoirs is provided throughout the length of said trough; and means for introducing liquid into an upper end portion of said trough.

l0. In air conditioning apparatus, a refrigerant condenser, comprising: a refrigerant-carrying conduit fashioned into a substantially rectangularly-shaped coil having a plurality of successively arranged turns therein; said coil being disposed so that the successive turns thereof are vertically spaced from one another; a plurality of vertically positioned and horizontally spaced radiating tins through which the turns of said coil extend; said conduit being further fashioned with an outwardly opening and longitudinally extending trough-like recess in the upper exterior surface of the conduit; said trough-like recess having inclined and spaced apart side walls connected at the lowest portion thereof by a floor member; said oor being provided with an undulated surface that is continuous from one end of the recess to the other; said undulated floor being dimensioned so that the high points thereof are less than the elevation of the proximate side walls of said recess, whereby liquid owing in said recess may flow to the next successive undulated portion before overflowing the side walls of the recess; and means for introducing liquid into the recess at a point proximate the upper end of the coil.

Muy Jan. 31, 1939 Money Mar. 14, 1950 

